Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC) has established itself as a key player in the Philippine banking space, with its consumer finance app, DiskarTech recently achieving over five million downloads.
The DiskarTech app benefits from around 50 artificial intelligence models developed in-house by RCBC for credit checks and fraud detection. RCBC President and CEO, Eugene S. Acevedo, highlighted the bank’s commitment to digital innovation in a recent interview with Nikkei, stating,
“I think we are the leading bank in artificial intelligence. That is why much of our decisions are made or are based on AI and data science. We don’t guess. There’s enough data that we can model that allows us to do all these things.”
The Japanese megabank Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (SMFG) acquired a stake in RCBC in 2021. RCBC plans to leverage SMFG, known for its Olive all-in-one card and app in Japan, expertise in credit payments and other financial services to further enhance RCBC’s digital offerings.
The Philippine central bank’s push for digital banking and electronic payments led to the issuance of digital banking licenses to six lenders in 2021, including the startup GoTyme Bank, a joint venture between the Philippine Gokongwei Group and South Africa’s Tyme banking platform.
GoTyme Bank, which began operations in October 2022, has been allowing customers to open an account and receive a cash card in just five minutes at their self-serve kiosks, a process that traditionally takes much longer. With plans to expand into insurance and other financial services, GoTyme Bank projects a customer base of 5 million by next year, potentially rivaling RCBC’s DiskarTech app downloads.
